Passing of Youth
by MissMandS
Summary: So she wonders now if the feeling blooming in the pit of her stomach and swelling in her chest is just a passing of her youth. She remembers seeing the elf maid step through the door of their tiny house with daggers in hand. How easily she sliced the orcs down, effortless in her actions and graceful in her movements. Part five of Femslash February.


Sigrid cannot remember a time in her life that she's ever been so exhausted. Even when her mother gave birth to Bain and Tilda and she listened to all the screaming and shouting that had come with it. And even though she'd done all the running around, grabbed the needed items and assisted the midwives, she wasn't so exhausted. Her head is still whirling from the events of these past few days. Dwarves came out of their toilet only to leave as quickly as they'd arrived. Then the orcs had come. Sigrid pushes the thought from her mind, unwilling to think of the foul, twisted creatures that had invaded their home.

Lifting her head she risks a glance towards her family who sleeps on like their home hasn't just been destroyed hours ago. The dragon is dead now, sinking to the very bottom of the lake. The lake which she was born on. The lake which she will probably never occupy again. The thought is a bitter one and she once again catches herself thinking of foul things. It is not the orcs this time but the dragon. All the memories of her home, all the memories of her childhood destroyed by the dragon Smaug with one breath. With one breath, one roar, one flap of his wings he's sent people scrambling for their boats. And she can't help but wonder who else sinks to the bottom of the lake with the dragon, who else's memories are falling down into the lake.

Her da's memories will haunt him for years to come she suspects as she stares at his sleeping face. Even in sleep, his face is lined with wrinkles of worry, his mouth turning down with a deep frown. Bain clutches at his sleeve and even in the dark, Sigrid can see the drying tear tracks. Tilda looks happy, even sleeping just to have them all nearby her. Around her is a symphony of snores, sniffles, groans of pain and even the occasional sob. Sigrid cannot sleep, despite her best efforts. Despite tossing and turning and being surrounded by her family, the ground is too hard, the air too cold. Her thoughts are still full of fire though of an entirely different kind now as she moves from their makeshift tent.

The elf maiden, Tauriel is not hard to find. Even with all the makeshift tents, cots and beds littering the grounds she is not difficult to spot. The woman stands, staring out at the lake. Her back is straight; her shoulders back as she looks over the water and towards the mountain. Sigrid wonders what her thoughts are and imagines they are probably of the dwarf, the one who gave her that stone earlier before leaving. Even as Sigrid comes to stand next to her, she doesn't turn away from the water and she can see her hand wrapped around something.

"You should be resting, it has been a long day." Tauriel says and Sigrid almost laughs at her. It has been more than a long day. It is the longest day in her young life that she can remember and she hopes that it will be the only long day of her life.

"I cannot sleep." She says instead and tries desperately to not look towards the elf's closed fist.

"That dwarf from earlier, the one you healed. What does the stone mean that he gave you?" Tauriel opens her hand and there in her palm is the stone, smooth and simple with unreadable runes on it. She looks at it with a soft expression, her fingers coming up to stroke it before she once more allows her hand to fall back by her side.

"His name is Kili and it's a rune stone given to him by his mother. It is a reminder of his promise that he will come back to her." Sigrid thinks of her da, wishing she has some sort of stone to give to him. That she has something to give him so he will remember a promise to come back to her, come back to her brother and sisters.

"And will you go back to him?" Sigrid asks. At this Tauriel looks at her and she looks so lost as her hand tightens around the stone, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Kili's feelings for me are nothing more than a passing of his youth. Time will pass and he will grow out of it and I will be nothing more than memory, nothing more than the redheaded elf maiden that saved his life." Nothing more than a passing of youth. Sigrid ponders that in her head. It's safe to say that the boys in her past, who were far and few between were nothing more than a passing of her youth. Her feelings were there though not very strong, wilting after a few months or dissolving completely with a lack of humor or intelligence.

So she wonders now if the feeling blooming in the pit of her stomach and swelling in her chest is just a passing of her youth. She remembers seeing the elf maid step through the door of their tiny house with daggers in hand. How easily she sliced the orcs down, effortless in her actions and graceful in her movements. Sigrid has never seen battle before except in books but not even in the books had its characters been described as beautifully as the elf maiden before her.

And she wonders now, if the elf maiden, Tauriel has anyone waiting for her to come back to her. If she has anyone waiting to take care of her and soothe the wounds left by the dragon fire and orcs. She seems so powerful, so dangerous, bathed in the moonlight that shines down on the lake.

"Will you allow me to take care of you?" Sigrid asks and Tauriel looks at her, startled. There is hesitation, clear in her eyes as if any moment she expects someone to show up and order her to follow them, away from Sigrid. But it's with a shaky nod that she lifts her hands and offers them palm up to Sigrid.

Her hands are smooth as silk save for the callouses that Sigrid pauses to run her fingers over, relishing in the shudders that come from Tauriel with each brush of her fingertips. Pale as the moonlight, she tries to memorize each detail of them to memory. Each callous, the length of her fingers and the way each nail ends in a perfect crescent nail.

"Do you think my feelings just a passing of my youth?" Sigrid asks and feels the woman's hands stiffen beneath hers. Tauriel stares not at her but at the rune stone. From behind them comes the shuffling of feet and a bitter smile tugs at the corners of her lips as the familiar sounds of her father's footsteps near. Sigrid lifts Tauriel's hands to her mouth, pressing a kiss to the middle of each. She wraps her hand around the rune stone and presses it into the woman's palm and turns towards the sound of her father's footsteps.

"I have nothing to give to promise I will come back other than my word that this is not just a passing of my youth." And with that Sigrid walks off, heading towards the sound of her father who now calls her name.

* * *

Oh, hey I was actually able to post. It was one of those days when I went to do my math homework online, saw the problem and it was one that I could actually do and burst out crying. So yes, today was stressful as far as school goes. I kind of said f***k it on my math. I tried but...Yeah, despite not completing it I have a 78% on my online part and have a test tomorrow.

I have two tests tomorrow. One in math and then one in anatomy and physiology so please, please, please wish me luck and leave me encouraging reviews because I could use them. They're my only two classes for the day and have a good feeling but I have test anxiety unfortunately and it's my first time with this A&amp;P professor. I apologize for the long winded note but these past couple days of school have been really difficult and I had to go to the DMV after school today along with doing math and A&amp;P homework which had taken me over two hours.

Anyways, yeah I actually shipped Tauriel with someone. I cannot believe this has happened. I love this one so much...The sexual tension could be cut with a knife between these two and I can see a total dom/sub thing going on between them. Tauriel has lived under Thranduil all her life and is a warrior, she needs someone to take care of her.


End file.
